संवित्तिमात्ररूपाणि स्थितानि गगनोदरे । भवन्ति वटजालानि यथा बीजकणान्तरे ॥ २८ ॥
saṁvittimātrarūpāṇi sthitāni gaganōdarē | bhavanti vaṭajālāni yathā bījakaṇāntarē || 28 ||
Translation
Made only of awareness, they stand in the belly of space, as whole banyan trees are within the speck of a seed.
Word by word
- saṁvitti
- of awareness
- mātra
- only
- rūpāṇi
- made
- sthitāni
- they stand
- gagana
- of space
- udarē
- in the belly
- bhavanti
- are
- vaṭa
- banyan
- jālāni
- whole trees
- yathā
- as
- bīja
- of a seed
- kaṇa
- the speck
- antarē
- within
Meaning
The commentary: whatever things appeared in gross form were all there before in the being of Brahman, and the verse shows it with an example. As within the very subtle seed of the banyan a great banyan tree stands, so these cosmic eggs stand in the unmanifest space only in the form of awareness. Another commentary: all these cosmic eggs stand in the unmanifest space, by knowledge alone, as a banyan's net within its seed. A banyan, with its hanging roots that become new trunks, is a whole forest from one seed; the seed is tiny, yet nothing of the forest is added from outside.